Vaccinations have been around for generations and were first developed in the 1800’s. They have helped eradicate severe diseases and protect the general public from devastating infectious diseases. Immunizations have helped reduce severe infections like polio and the measles and have greatly reduced the death toll. Vaccinations are one the medical professional’s most powerful tool in preventing illness and disease. Yet, with all the success immunizations have had on improved health conditions they continue to be a controversial issue as many Americans still refuse them. State-mandated policies require certain childhood immunization to be completed prior to entry into school. Ethical debate has occurred over whether states have this right to mandate these vaccinations or if families should have the freedom to choose based on religious and philosophical conflicts in beliefs. Though regulations regarding vaccinations may violate one 's autonomy, the government believes they are just in requiring them in order to protect the greatest number of people (History of Vaccines, 2018). In recent years the rate of refusal has been on the rise so this paper will discuss the pros and cons of mandated vaccinations as well as related ethical issues. Propionates Position Vaccines were developed in the early 1800s and to date are one of the most effective ways of controlling disease and protecting the general public. However, their effectiveness is dependent and their acceptance and the
In his book, Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All, Paul A. Offit, M.D. presents us with a thoroughly in-depth look behind the veil of the vaccine controversy. Specifically here in the United States. Offit starts us off with the history of vaccinations giving insights into not just their creation but the controversy that has surrounded them since the beginning. We learn how these questions around safety and personal rights started and who have been the major decision makers in history. We hear about the groups and people that support vaccinations and those that do not.
The concept behind immunization is to expose those to a very small safe bit of the most dangerous diseases that they may be likely to encounter at any point in life. We also regard protection against those same diseases coming into contact with our bodies. One of the first combined vaccines to be licensed by the FDA. It was put into the routine pediatric care in the 1940s and a staple of preventive service in the United States through 1990. There are four combinations involved in this vaccine.
Since our founding, our country has struggled to find a compromise between security and liberty. A balance between the two is exceedingly difficult because we are a fickle species and we change our minds on which we want more. A current controversy that has spiked national security interest is the topic of vaccinations. The United States is on the edge of a public health crisis. For many years, all 50 states have required that parents vaccinate their children against various diseases, including polio and measles, before enrolling them in public schools, and exempted parents who claimed to have religious or philosophical reasons (Ciolli).
Problem Immunization is the process when an individual is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, normally through vaccination (WHO, 2015). Individuals of all ages should receive a shot in order to better protect themselves and the individuals around them. In 1809, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to require an immunization policy, since then the entire nation now has federal policies implementing vaccinations to protect the public health (Martindale-Hubbell, 2015). However, these policies are typically generated for the younger generation of the population. Federal Immunization policies in the United States are implemented solely to ensure the safety of oneself and the society as a whole.
It is believed that an individual’s medical choices should not be governed. This is also a valid point. However, the decision to not vaccinate ones child not only affects the child’s health but the health of others. This point alone validates why it necessary to mandate vaccinations for all
There has been a huge controversy concerning vaccination for children from many parents. Many parents had different reason on why they were for or against vaccination. Some for religious purposes, concerned about the long-term side effects. Most parents feel that vaccine is poison. The fact that doctors are injecting something into their child can be terrifying.
Vaccinations are one of the biggest advancements in Medicine today. For example, polio had spread across the United States in the 1950’s claiming thousands of lives a
Many parents want what’s best for their children, especially when it comes to their child's health. One of the most controversial topics today is whether or not to give children the required vaccinations. By choosing to vaccinate a child you could potentially determine the future for that child and diseases they could and could not be exposed to. The real question is, Why should you vaccinate? It is important for parents to know all of the facts before they make the decision to vaccinate.
By properly educating the public about all of the positive benefits of vaccinations and all the lives that could be saved, we could one day live in a society of no illness like Brave New World. Disease has been around since the beginning of mankind and up until the late 1700’s, there were no cures available for deadly diseases. Early vaccines date back to the 1100’s when variolation was invented to treat smallpox. Variolation is the process of rubbing fluid from scabs on to superficial scratches on the surface of the skin (“Vaccine Timeline.”).
The article “Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child” reasons that “Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children, have been eliminated completely and others are close to extinction– primarily due to safe and effective vaccines”. Because of vaccines the world today as we know it is slowly becoming safer as more and more diseases are being eradicated. The U.S. has helped in their own way to get rid of diseases. The article “Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?” states that “In 1855 Massachusetts passed the first U.S. state law mandating vaccinations for schoolchildren [5], followed by New York (1862), Connecticut (1872), Indiana (1881), and Arkansas (1882).” So as the years went on the U.S. has continually integrated vaccinations for the youth, in this case, it is needed in order to attend
News Flash! Recent outbreaks of what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) call vaccine-preventable diseases demonstrate the effects of the anti-vaccination movement. “Antivaxxers” as they’ve come to be called, as noticed on this author's Facebook page, are a population of parents who make a conscious decision not to vaccinate their children. The goal of this paper is to shed some light on the Antivaxxers, their arguments for choosing not to vaccinate their children, and research that proves the Antivaxxers’ theories are wrong. After all, vaccines aren’t something to be concerned about, they are proven to be effective.
Required Immunity Mandatory vaccinations for children in public schools have been the center of much debate since laws were first developed to regulate immunization. Fears from parents about side effects and adverse reactions have steered many away from wanting to vaccinate their children despite the numerous infectious diseases they prevent. These debates have gotten in the way of progression in schools for preventing the spread of disease. To me, the risks of not vaccinating children are far greater than the risks of adverse reactions.
Many people may think that vaccination is a bad thing, that instead of preventing it causes illness, that is not natural. Natural or not, there are many reasons as to why we should vaccinate us and the younger generation. Most of the time children don’t like vaccination because it hurt, but is the responsibility of a parent to seek the wellbeing of his or her child. Vaccination it’s a preventive measure of various diseases. Unfortunately, things like the anti-vaccination movement, the misinformation on the Internet, and the believe that vaccination causes more damage than is worth, have led our society to think that it’s right not to vaccinate.
In every case where compulsory vaccinations were challenged, the Court upheld their constitutionality because they do not infringe on any rights. Notably, in Prince v. Massachusetts, the Court ruled that mandatory vaccines do not violate freedom of religion (Chemerinsky, Goodwin 606). In fact, the Court ruled religious exemption clauses as unlawful, since they only apply to students of a recognized denomination, as concluded in Brown v. Stone and Davis v. State (Chemerinsky, Goodwin 607-608). Furthermore, mandatory vaccines do not infringe on religious freedom because, “no matter how much a law burdens religious practices it is constitutional under [Employment v.] Smith so long as it does not single out religious behavior for punishment and was not motivated by a desire to interfere with religion” (Chemerinsky, Goodwin 609).
Although all public schools require immunizations, there are still children in the schools whose religion exempts the use of vaccinations. The goal of this paper is